The present invention relates generally to devices used to provide screen cursor position and other control information to a computer and more particularly to a computer controller device which is operable while being held in the hand above the desk or other work surface.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that hand operated devices used for screen cursor control and for initiating certain basic computer operations are used extensively, particularly with personal computers having a graphical or "icon" based user interface. Most such devices, conventionally known as a "mice", function by being rolled or moved around on a planar work surface. The translation of the mouse about the surface produces control signals which are interpreted by firmware or software in the computer to cause coordinated movement of the cursor on the screen of the computer's video display. Conventional mice also typically include one or two momentary or intermittent contact control switches which can be programmed to trigger certain "point and click" computer operations, such as dropping and dragging of text or selection of pull down menu items.
Controllers which depend on movement of the device across a work surface, of course, occupy up space which could otherwise be allocated to other tools or tasks. Further, constant manipulation of the mouse around the work surface can produce repetitive movement discomfort or injury, carpal tunnel syndrome for example. Accordingly, some computer manufactures have included or offered controller devices which remain stationary during use, requiring the user to rotate a "trackball" in order to produce the desired movement of the screen cursor. Users of laptop or notebook sized personal computers have found stationary hand operated controllers to be particularly valuable. Unfortunately, none of the stationary trackball and other hand operated controllers developed for computer users offer the flexibility and freedom to operate the controller when completely separated from the work surface or computer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,552,360 issued to Bromley, et al on Nov. 12, 1985, discloses a hand held video controller which controls the movement and rate of movement of a plurality of game objects on a video game screen.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,891,632 issued to Chang on Jan. 2, 1990, teaches a computer graphic drawing apparatus with coarse and fine controls. This device depends in part on movement of a roller ball.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,376 issued to Chang on Nov. 5, 1991, describes a mouse controller with an integral numeric keypad.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,132,672 issued to Clark on Jul. 21, 1992, discloses a mouse used on a work surface which includes a finger operated control which introduces a third degree of freedom. It is not intended for use while being held in the hand above the work surface.
What is needed, then, is a computer controller which can be operated while being held in one hand, away from a planar work surface, and which reduces the risk of repetitive motion injury by allowing the user to manipulate the controller in a variety of positions. Such a hand held controller is presently lacking in the prior art.